1. Dark, brooding, avoids sentimentality
2. Isn't formulaic, doesn't fit snugly into a particular genre, is layered
3. Possesses an underlying beauty and humanity
Quite specific I know, but I'll really appreciate any suggestions. :)
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1. Dark, brooding, avoids sentimentality
2. Isn't formulaic, doesn't fit snugly into a particular genre, is layered
3. Possesses an underlying beauty and humanity
Quite specific I know, but I'll really appreciate any suggestions. :)
The Portrait of a Lady!!!!
(But then, I would suggest that, wouldn't I...)
Crime and Punishment would probably also fit nicely.
Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham. Great sci-fi horror, Alex Garland/Danny Boyle borrowed from it for their horror film and novelization, 28 Days Later. Many parallels.
Story from the Underground
Name of the Rose or Foucalt's Pendulum by Umberto Eco.
Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre by The two elder Bronte sisters.
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
The Count of Monte Cristo/The Three Musketeers/Les Miserables/The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Rabindranath Tagore's "Home and the World."
I'm not sure if this is gonna fit, but I believe George Orwell's 1984 is quite gloomy, yet has an underlying beauty and humanity!
Nossa, 1984 is indeed a good choice! Beg to differ in the beauty point though :p That Beauty/Humanity point really spoils my advices; I was going to suggest Beckett's Murphy or Watt (haven't yet read Watt till the end, but I definitely intend to).
I have the feeling that you guys are all going to assault me for this, but I think The Little Prince covers all of your points perfectly. You read it in a day, but unless you're heart is made out of stone, or if you consider yourself to be superior to such a (seemingly!) simple book, you will love it.
The Island of the Day Before by Eco
Perfume by Patrick Suskind.
The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist
American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
first thing that came into my mind when I saw the requirements.
Anything by E. M. Cioren, Notes from the Underground, Dostoyevsky, The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym, Edgar Allen Poe. quasimodo1
Without renaming any all I can really think of is Lord of the Flies by William Golding... at least in my opinion...